Safety appliance for railway-car trucks.



F. G. WILLERS.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY GAR TRUCKS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21, 1914.

1, 1 1 Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

2 SHEBTS$HEET 1 WITNESS INVENTOR FFEfiE/F/6/f 6, #4 1 5 W BY M M ATTORNEYS THE NORRIS PETERS CO.- PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON. '1 r Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

INVENTOR ATTORNE Y8 F. G. WILLERS.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY OAR TRUCKS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21. 1914.

WITNESSES THE NORRIS PETERS CQ. PHOTD-LITHQ, WASHINGTON. D4 C.

FREDERICK G. WILLERS, OF CADILLAC, MICHIGAN.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILIIVAY-GAR TRUCKS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented 0013. 20, 1914.

Application filed February 21, 1914. Serial No. 820,195.

1 b aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK G. IL- LERS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cadillac, in the county of lVexford and State of Michigan, have made an Improved Safety Appliance for Railway- Cil Trucks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is embodied in mechanism applied to a car-truck, whereby the airbrakes are applied in case a car wheel leaves the rail or a brake-beam drops, or axle bearings become displaced.

The details of construction, arrangement, and operation of parts are as hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a plan view of a portion of a car truck with my invention applied. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same parts. Fig. 3 is a side view of the principal portions of the mechanism embodying my invention. Fig. 4: is a horizontal section on the line of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a side viewpart being broken away-of one of the auxiliary levers of the safety appliance. In Figs. 1 and 2, the axle 1, wheels 2, and brake-beam 3 of a railway-car are shown arranged in the usual way. lhe numeral 4 indicates the usual train-pipe of an air-brake system, and this is provided with an angular branch P, which is pro vided at its lower end with a twoway valve 5, having an operating lever, or handle, 6 see especially Figs. l and 5. When the lever is down, as shown in full lines, Fig. 2, and dotted lines, Fig. 5, the valve is closed.

My invention is embodied in the mechanism now to be described, which operatively connects certain parts of the truck with the valve lever, so that the latter is raised and the valve opened when some of such parts become displaced.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and =1. two bifurcated, oppositely arranged, obtuseangled trip levers 7 are shown, the same being arranged horizontally and the outer ends of their bifurcated arms being pivoted in hangers 8 that are pendent from the sills of the car body. The inner end of each lever arm 7 projects through a slotted guide frame 9, which is pendent from a plate 10, the latter being bolted to the under-side of a car body as shown best in Figs. 2 and 8. As shown in Figs. 2 and at, the lever arms 7 a lie under the valve lever 6; consequently, when either of the said levers is raised from a normal position, the valve lever will be raised also and the valve thereby opened, thus allowing escape of air from the train-pipe and causmg automatically application of the brakes, throughout the train.

As shown best in Fig. 3, within the slotted guide frame 9 is arranged a spring catch 11, which the valve lever 6 passes when raised, and which serves to prevent return of the lever to its normal position save by manual manipulation.

The trip levers whose arrangement and operation have been described are not connected directly with the movable parts of the truck, but by means now to be described. A forked, obtuse-angled lever 12 is pivoted in the same hanger with one of the arms of the bifurcated trip levers 7, and its outer end is connected by a link 13 with a stirrup 14-, which is shown in Fig. 2, and embraces the axle box 1. T he angular, forked, inner end of the said lever 12 is provided at its lower angle with a bearing 12*, as shown in Fig. 6, upon which the adjacent arm of the trip lever 7 bears, as will be readily understood from Fig. 3. It will now be seen that, if the axle bearing is displaced, say by the adjacent wheel leaving the rail, the outer end of the auxiliary lever 12 will be pulled down or depressed, which will have the effect of raising the lever 7 and thus tripping the valve lever 6, as before explained.

Another but shorter forked auxiliary lever 15 is pivoted and arranged in the same way as the lever 12, with the other or opposite arm of the bifurcated trip lever 7see Figs. 2, 3, 4. The outer arm of this lever 15 is connected by a link 16 with the brake-beam 3see especially Fig. 2; consequently. if the brake-beam drops from any cause, the auxiliary lever 15 will raise the trip lever 7, thus opening the valve 5 and setting the brakes, as before described. Thus, through a medium of the connections described between the axle and brake-beam and the valve of the train-pipe, the depression of either the axle-bearing or brakebeam Will have the effect of applying the brakes through the medium of the same trip lever 7.

hat I claim is The combination with a car body, a truck therefor, an air braking apparatus connected with the car, and a pivoted shift lever operatively connected With the brake apparatus, of a pivoted auxiliary lever con nected with and adapted to act on the firstnamed lever, a stirrup applied to the axle box of the truck axle, and means connecting said stirrup with the outer end of the auxiliary lever, as described.

' FREDERICK G. WVILLERS. \Vitnesses A. G. CHAPMAN, IIARRY G. C APMAN.

Qopies qt this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents,

Washington, D. C, 

